


Sinful Taste

by DesireeU



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Vampire, DarkSteelShipping, F/M, Mizuhikishipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-05-31 11:55:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6469198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesireeU/pseuds/DesireeU
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was immortal, and still not a god. He found emotions a flaw, and yet was attracted to a woman bursting with them. As incomplete as he felt, only her blood could give him some satisfaction. (Vampire!Cyrus AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Eternity.

Some would be scared by it, afraid that someday they'll just become tired of living, that they'll keep losing all those they love over and over; for others it would be a blessing, to be immortal -and Cyrus was more of this opinion. Immortality meant there were no bounds to what he could and couldn't do, that he could carefully plan and craft the grandiose dreams of his and keep on his legacy without fearing his successor to destroy his hard work.

Being eternal was the closest feeling he had to being a god.

However, he had to admit that he indeed questioned its advantages occasionally; what was the point of being eternal when you were relegated far from that oh so hated society that he needed to influence, to manipulate to bring him to success? He was no one now, wiped away from existence. And, even if he were to go back to that disdainful, polluted world, he could still not do much. Because people would notice. Because they would ask far too many questions.

Because technically, he was _dead_.

Cyrus sighed, staring at Giratina lazily flying through the nothingness of the Distortion World. It had been almost 20 years since his dream had been crushed, and with it, his humanity. But it was all a matter of time, of generations, before he could go uunoticed and mingle with those pathethic humans to finally bring his new, perfect world to life. And thankfully, he had all the time in the world.

Briefly passing his fingers on one of his long canines, he wondered when his servants would be back.

* * *

"Saturn."

A large, female Crobat nodded as to aknowledge the presence of the younger Swoobat.  
"Yeah, nice to see you back too, Jupiter. Always so eloquent." said the Swoobat rolling his eyes, before taking the form of a blue-haired young adult with a poof.

The Crobat did just the same, and with her now far more capable hands she immediately reached for the vials she kept attached to a necklace, wordlessly.  
"Errrh, so," started Saturn, attempting a conversation: "how many did you get this time?"  
Jupiter simply raised her seven vials, and kept walking through the dark halls.

"Well, I got five, so it's not too far off! You should stop acting all-"

"I GOT TEEEEN~!"

Saturn's speech was cut off as a loudly squealing Noibat crashed on him with unnatural strenght for a bat, sending him flying against the nearest surface of support: the floor.

"Good evening Mars. You're late." stated Jupiter crossing her arms and momentarily stopping her march down the halls.  
"Yeah, I know, but it's good reason!" exclaimed the unnaturally red Noibat, looking as if she was pouty and happily excited at the same time: "See? I got ten! Better than you, Juju!"  
The older woman sighed, placing a hand on her hip: "It is about quality, not quantity, Mars. Stop making a childish challenge of everything. And my name is Jupiter."  
"Whatever, you're probably just jealous anyways!" concluded Mars, suddenly poofing in her human form and fiercily turning her head to the side, eyes closed and pouty lips as if to emphasize her point.

"M-Mars...please get off... I'll die…!"

The redhead glanced down, having not realized she was still over the poor knocked out Saturn, and stood up readily, not before giving him a punch on the head.  
"You trying to tell me I'm fat or something?!"  
"Well, it's you the one who likes fat cats and eats sweets rather than fruit like any other _normal_ bat, isn't it?"

Jupiter closed her eyes with a sigh, stepping between the two and firmly grasping them by their heads to keep them in place.

"May I inquire about the reason of so much noise?"

Cyrus' deep voice seemingly rumbled through the dark and empty halls, sending shivers to the quarrelling three, who immediately bowed down.

"No fuss, sir!" started Mars: "Just Satty being an idiot like usual!" and before anyone could say more, she removed the vial-holding necklace and proudly swinged it under Cyrus' nose: "Lookie, lookie! Got ten of them this time! Are you proud of me, Master Cyrus?"

The man's face was void of expression as usual, and after staring at the vials and then at the three he simply turned on his heels and started walking down the hall he came from.

"I was wondering when you'd be back."

And the three young servants took that as cue to follow him.

* * *

Jupiter slightly smirked as she observed her Master silently enjoying the vials of blood she'd offered him; he may look expressionless, but she'd gotten used to read the slightest hints of his current mood.

Afterall, she was the one who knew him better out of the other servants, and she knew exactly how he liked his blood as well: if he truly had to live off the incomplete, corrupted people he despised so much -and living like this was loathesome to him, hitting right at his pride- he would have wanted at least the blood of people as closest as his ideal of perfection as possible.  
So, Jupiter had learned to go after people who seemingly lacked emotions, or could manage them extremely well.

Saturn did a good job too, but she knew that with him being a Swoobat -one of those pesky fruit bats she would normally despise- he was at disadvantage, not being able to smell the blood and how it would taste like she could do. And Mars…

She glanced at Cyrus almost throwing up the blood from one of Mars' vials.

...well, Mars was more impulsive, and mostly followed her instict than observing the right prey. The only "right" prey to her were the easy ones, so that she could take as much as she could. When would she learn that Master Cyrus favored quality and not quantity…

At the third-to-last vial brought by Mars, Cyrus suddenly widened his eyes and stopped drinking it, pensively staring at the remaining crimson blood. The three bat servants stiffened, and Saturn spared Mars a quick glance as if to say " _that's it, you royally screwed up this time"_ while Jupiter squinted her eyes trying to read her Master's new expression.

Then, slowly, without breaking his gaze to the blood, Cyrus finally spoke, his voice stone cold: "Where... _whose_ blood is this?"

"A-a blonde young woman, sir!" promptly replied Mars, shifting her weight from feet to feet nervously; she couldn't still understand if her Master was pleased or furious -nobody really did- and it was making her very uncomfortable: "She wasn't an easy target, but I managed to strike when she was talking over the phone….I think the person on the other line referred to her as Champion, but I don't know much more than that…!"

Cyrus stopped staring at the vial and drank its remaining contents, reclining back on his armchair with an almost inaudible sigh.

"I demand _more_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for inactivity, I already struggle to find time as a freelance artist, that I sadly almost never have time (or inspiration) to write…
> 
> And as sadly happens during long periods of time, interests change. So, I still love and adore the Rocket Executives and I have full intentions to finish MoaRE someday, but for now I'm focusing for a bit on my waifu Cynthia….you can expect some Mizuhikishipping and Darksteelshipping from now on, yes. uvu
> 
> So, I'm terrible at summaries but as you may have understood, this story is an AU where Cyrus is a vampire living in the Distortion World, with a special craving for the blood of a certain Champion... It's based as most of my stories on an RP I made with my sister, I'm just...kind of novelizing it, ahah! If now it seems confusing feel free to ask any questions, but most should hopefully be answered as the story progresses.
> 
> Well, hope you enjoy the work of my ever crazy mind!  
> (yes sis, if you're reading, the core idea was mine and so were the majority of twists :U But this couldn't be without you, thanks for bearing with my RP needs ;v; )


	2. Chapter 2

Jupiter couldn't understand it. She just _couldn't_.  
Mars had never been able to fully understand Master Cyrus' preferences, and yet she managed to get a hold of what was now Cyrus' favorite blood. And Mars boasting about that at any given occasion was starting to really get on her nerves.

She couldn't also understand why of all blood types her Master had drank, this one was his favorite. Jupiter had studied the woman before her attacks, and she was far from being emotionless, controlled; she was almost the opposite of what Cyrus usually preferred.

It had never occured of him to like a certain blood so much to want it repeatedly from the same person, yet there she was, observing the blonde for the fifth time in two months, waiting for her to lower her guard to strike.

That was proving to be an increasingly difficult task though.

"What? Are you serious?"

Cynthia sighed at her laptop screen, nodding: "Yes, Steven. It's been two months already, and it seems like twice a week I get attacked by some bat Pokémon! It's getting to the point where I'm avoiding exploring as I used to, and almost never leave my windows open. For Arceus' sake, I'm not even sure if that's enough; once a Noibat just crashed through my closed window as I was sleeping!"

Jupiter wing-palmed at the mention of her colleague.

"Well," said the Hoenn Champion, his voice showing obvious concern even through the Skype call: "maybe you should start considering leaving your Pokémon out of their Pokeballs, so that they can keep a watch?"

"I've thought of it, but my Pokémon need some sleep, too." affirmed Cynthia closing her eyes and lightly shaking her head: "But I've been considering leaving Spiritomb out, yes. She seems most suited for this kind of task. I just would like to know why the behavior of those wild Pokémon and how to deal with it without actually hurting them, you know?"

Steven chuckled: "Yeah, that's my Cynthia, always such a goody-goody! Come on, I know too well how strong and dangerous you actually are~"

"Should I be flattered or offended, Steven?" inquired the blonde raising a brow, but a playful smirk on her lips. "But yes, if it comes down to it, I will have to get rid of the issue. I just have too many things I already preoccupy myself of, crazy bats don't need to be one of them." she concluded, softly tapping one of her Pokeballs laying on the desk.

And she sure meant it: in the following three weeks, the bat trio managed to get her blood only twice, and that was starting to unnerve Cyrus.

On one of the silent, post-failure evenings, Cyrus stared pensively at Mars in her human form as she tended to Saturn's injured wing. It seemed that as of recently they came back injured more often than not.

"I'm very sorry for the failure, sir," muttered Saturn, staying as composed as he could.

Cyrus shook his head and rose from his armchair, folding his arms behind his back and starting walking down a hallway, wordlessly.  
Mars quickly perked up from her mending and looked at him, tilting her head: "Wait, where are you going, Master?"

The vampire stopped a moment, his face briefly looking back: "I'll go get it myself."

At that everyone, Jupiter included, gasped; Cyrus loathed with every fiber of himself hunting, it had been more than a decade since he last had directly bitten a human!  
Taken aback, they could only mutter a "B-but Master..?!" before he disappeared.

Silence followed.

"He's _sooo_ going to be pissed once he comes back." finally said Mars, taking her Noibat form and trying to hide in Saturn's neck fluff.

* * *

"You know, as crazy as that sounds, I think they're always the same Crobat, Swoobat and Noibat." said Cynthia nodding at Steve through one of their Skype calls.

"As if being constantly targeted by bats doesn't sound crazy enough," chuckled Steven: "but how can you be sure?"

"They're kind of peculiar, you know? The Crobat, it's got this longer fur on her head that's seemingly tied in two buns, and the Swoobat has some fur sticking out of his head that looks like horns, or an extra set of ears, and such a serious look for its species. And the Noibat it's the most recognizable: other than the pointy fur on its head it's of a brilliant red color, and that's not Noibat's normal or even shiny coloration."

"Mmh, you may be right then," agreed the young man, turning serious: "but it sounds like they may belong to someone, then. I mean, I really can't imagine a wild Crobat tying up its fur in buns all by itself."

"Perhaps." simply stated Cynthia, apparentely lost in thought, the earlier attack from the Swoobat still fresh in her mind.

Suddenly though, the call screen glitched out, and all lights in her house went off. The young woman felt a chill from behind her -but wasn't her window closed?- and suddenly felt paralyzed, as if an unseen force was preventing her from moving.

"You foolish human,"

The voice was so deep, and seemingly coming from directly behind her, that Cynthia couldn't help but shiver against her invisible binding, surprise and, for the first time in a while, fear taking control of her body.

"you really thought you could escape my will, and treat my servants so unappropriately?" continued the voice, and she could feel it drawing near, although she couldn't hear any steps or other movements.

"Now…" an icy finger touched her neck, the voice now breathing directly against her soft skin, and she would have jolted and punched whoever it was if it weren't for her paralysis.

"...you will feel how futile it is to go against me."

Of all things Cynthia could have expected, feeling teeth sinking in her skin wasn't one of them. She gasped, the shock and paralysis taking a hold of her voice as well, as her mind rambled on and on, incoherently, and she couldn't focus on anything but the burning sensation on her neck.

As she somehow gained some lucidity back, her thoughts ran to her Pokémon, but she didn't expect to a second attack on the same day and they were all already asleep, safe in their Pokeballs. The blonde tried to reach for one of them on the desk, but it took all of strenght to even bend her fingers; even if she had enough focus to try and move some more, she was definetely lacking it now because of the bite making her numb.

After what felt like an eternity, the mysterious man let go of her neck, blood trickling down from it. Cynthia shivered, and was suddenly aware of the acute pain the bite had inflicted her, but as much as she wanted she couldn't even touch her aching neck, or spin around to give some to that psycho intruder.

"It's been so long, my skills have become rusty." murmured the man, mostly to himself: "But worry not, next time it won't pain you...not that you will remember any of this."

* * *

Cynthia opened her eyes to the blinding morning light, her mind groggy, like under a thick fog. She mentally questioned if she had been drinking the night before but no, she remembered only talking with Steven over Skype...and she wasn't much of a drinker anyways.

For how much as she tried, he couldn't remember much, even as she instictively passed her fingers on her neck, feeling two small holes that were already healing up.

Maybe she had passed out from exhaustation? The League was keeping her incredibly busy and...wait, was it really already 10am?!

Leaving her wake-up confusion aside, Cynthia screamed and jumped off the bed, releasing Garchomp from her Pokeball and instructing her to fetch her some clothes while she buried herself in toothpaste, perfume, and a late morning shower.

She didn't even question why her laptop was neatly closed and set aside on the desk or why she was tucked in her bed, if she really had passed out during the chat.

* * *

As soon as Cyrus had set foot on his mansion in Distortion world, Mars, Saturn and, at a certain distance, Jupiter, hurried to him, seemingly concerned.

"Are you alright Master? Did everything went well? How was it?"  
Cyrus merely glanced at them, aiming to his chambers: "Successful as planned. Oddily satisfying."

Mars stared at his disappearing figure in the darness of a hallway: "So….guess he's not so pissed... Cupcake time then? I'm rather hungry~"


	3. Chapter 3

He should have sensed it from her very blood, that she's wasn't an ordinary woman and to not underestimate her, but that he did.  
And as much as he tried not to feel a thing, Cyrus felt incredibly _irked_ because of it.

The so-called Cynthia, the woman he had been visiting for a month now for her blood, had started resisting him. It was as if she was starting to remember bits of their previous encounters despite his amnesia spells, and organizing herself for future attacks; the last time he had visited, she was paralyzed by his powers as usual, yes, but he had been taken by surprise by a fierce Garchomp, and almost lost an arm to it.

He had to flee, without even bothering with her memory.  
And that night, he was sure it was that slip of memory that allowed her enough inner strenght to make his stomach churn in pain.

The blonde had somehow managed to fight the paralysis enough to blow a punch to his midsection. Due to the sudden hit, Cynthia's neck had been ripped by Cyrus' retreat and was now bleeding profusely, clouding her vision.

It disgusted Cyrus even more that, despite that, she still wore such an intense look of defiance, as if she wanted to burn him to ashes with solely her glare. Such powerful emotions...this pitiful human was far from perfection, how could he possibly enjoy her blood so much?

He heard screeching from a nearby room - _surely the woman's Garchomp approaching_ \- just as the blonde was slipping into uncosciousness. Cyrus had to think quick; leaving her in this state would mean that other people would notice, and possibly take action, preventing him from that blood he so much craved...and future encounters would be even more difficult, as she would prepare herself, he was sure of it.

So, he grabbed the unconscious woman and disappeared in the night.

* * *

Cynthia woke up to the sound of little voices, feeling incredibly weak. She kept still for a while before even trying to sit up - _wait, she was in a bed..?_ -, feigning sleep and trying to aknowledge her surroundings by the voices only.

"I still can't believe Master Cyrus decided to bring a human in! Geez, what was he thinking?!"  
"Hush, Mars, you should know better than to question Cyrus' decisions! I don't approve of her presence either, but that's probably the easiest way for him to feed…"  
"Still, he shouldn't have given her a fancy room and all that! I have no intention of babysitting humans, I have more important things to take care of!"  
"...like pancakes?"  
"Like pan-hey, don't you mock me, Satty!"  
"Will you two knock it out? I think she's waking up." intereferred a third cool, feminine voice.

Cynthia stiffened, and quickly opened her eyes trying to sit at the same time. She halted momentarily, confused at her surroundings: she was in a quite modern room, the furniture limited to the essentials but of clear high quality. The whole room had something almost futuristic she couldn't quite pinpoint...maybe it was the smooth, white surfaces, or the rounded windows, or the various leds she could notice here and there; from the curtainless windows entered a strange darkness, glowing red and blue, that really made it look like she was on another planet.

"Oooh, yeah Juju, lookie! She really woke up!"  
Cynthia got her focus back on the voices, and stared in disbelief at the three bat Pokémon that had given her so much trouble for months.  
"Ahahah, see that look on her face?" giggled the red Noibat, swirling here and there in the air: "Do you think she's like that because we're talking 'mons, or maybe because she actually remembers us, mmmh~?"

"Should we introduce her to us or to the place, or something?" said the Swoobat, throwing a nervous glance at the other Crobat shook her head, and posed herself on the bed Cynthia was sitting on: "That's not our decision to make. You two go inform Master Cyrus the human woke  
up, I'll stay here and keep an eye on her."  
The other two nodded, and took fly out of the window.

What followed were very unkward minutes of silence, in which Cynthia would have wanted to ask so many questions but found herself too prideful to talk to her "guard". Instead, she observed even more carefully her surroundings, not risking it by walking around for the time being, while absentmindedly playing with her long, blond locks.

Finally, the room's door opened, and Cynthia tensed with it, eyes narrowed in a serious and almost aggressive stare. She already knew who the man was, but never had the occasion -or the memories- to clearly recollect his looks. He surely did look like what she _supposed_ he was, with his sickly pale skin, pronounced cheekbones and sullen eyes.  
The woman proudly stared him down, looking as if she was _daring_ him to do anything.

The truth was that they both were unsure of what to do, so the situation quickly turned into what seemed like a staring contest, until Jupiter cleared her throath with an annoyed glance and Mars groaned in boredom.

"I give it that you have no clue about who I am, right?" finally started Cynthia, keeping her cool facade but her words obviously spitting anger: "Well then, I'll make it clear for you: I am Sinnoh's Champion. You're not only underestimating my strenght, but also overlooking that the whole region, and my worldwide friends as well, WILL look for me! You will _not_ get away with this..!"

"I can assure you I did my research and did not overlook anything," quietly replied the man, eerily still and his face not betraying a single emotion: "but I highly doubt anyone would be able to find you here, or that you could do anything without your precious Pokemon, _Champion_."

He spat the last word with the slightest hint of both disdain and sarcasm, and that made Cynthia twitch in anger, straining herself to not act out of it.  
"And what makes you think that, _psycho_?"  
The man's lips slightly curved in a half-smirk.

"Have you ever heard of the Distortion World?"

Cynthia's eyes widened.  
"Y-you can't be serious…" she muttered, suddenly on the edge of the bed: "...that's only something told in ancient folklore, a myth! It's where the Rebel has been banished, it can't be possibly accessible, _if_ it even exists…"

Her captor took a few steps towards the window, then raised his arm to point outside of it, as if inviting the young woman to see for herself. Hesitantly, Cynthia, rose from the bed and cautiously walked until she was in front of the window, still keeping an eye to the strangers behind her.

When she focused on what was outside the window, her breath froze for a moment.

Chaos.

That was the first thing she could thing of. It was as if someone had hastily torn pieces of the world and scatteringly threw them in a void, their order casual and not nearly enough to fill the emptiness. She had to blink a few times to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, unbelievably staring especially at an upside-down waterfall and at a forest growing both vertically and horizontally -with some of its trees suddenly vanishing or appearing.

And then, she saw _**It**_.

Effortlessly floating in that chaos, gliding almost gracefully amongst the floating islands and incoherence. A part Cynthia, the one which has been grown up to be a "good Sinnohvian girl" by her overly religious grandmother, didn't dare to look at the creature in fear; but another, her curious myhtology-lover one, _begged_ her to look at the fallen god more, to study it and imprint the figure in her mind.

She ended up turning around to face the impassible man.

In the turmoil of her thoughts, she managed to get only a question out.  
"...what do you want from me?"  
He took a step forward, his dead eyes boring into hers: "I thought you'd knew that. It is something you have denied me access to in the most... _pacific_ way, so I had to resume taking it by force."  
Cynthia slightly gulped and imagined the implicit answer, but did not falter nor did she reply.  
"Those of my kin crave blood. Disgusting, impure human blood, to my disdain. And I want- _need_ , yours." concluded the man as to counter her silence.

Her reply at that was immediate, and she took an angry half-step towards him: "Why mine? Why _only_ mine? How on Arceus' earth can exist a creature like you?"  
"You bestowed this upon yourself, human. Your futile resistance has brought you here, for as long as I please. And I am not required to answer your questions." was his flat reply before reaching for the door. Pausing a moment on the doorframe, without looking back, he spoke a few more words: "You'd better comply and rest. Your blood's taste would be negatively affected elseway. You may make yourself at home."

Cynthia stared at the closing door in disbelief for what felt like an eternity.  
After snapping out of her shock-induced trance, she angrily started walking around the room, the three bat Pokemon who had been silent the whole time following her movements with their gaze.

She was apparentely hastily muttering to herself, but all the trio could pick up were things like "it can't be", "I _refuse_ " and "this is crazy". Then, the blonde woman suddenly turned and jumped out of the window, expecting an harsh impact but instead slowly landing on the ground. The feeling was almost as being underwater.

Refusing to believe the situation she was in, Cynthia almost marched through the rocky island in which the mansion was located, leaving behind the bats' protesting voices. She already mentally marked her captor as a fool for not having higher security. _How dare he underestimate her_!

It took her a good to start being more used to the distorted physics of this world; especially when she found herself walking upside-down some panic set in, but after some time walking around she was mostly curious to know about that world and how it worked.

But still, there was no sign of escape in sight.

She didn't really know what to expect. The Distortion World suddenly ending and bringing her back to her dimension? A magical portal? _An interdimensional train station?  
_ Lost in her delusions, she almost didn't notice the god of that realm sneaking up behind her, ready to attack; when she turned back to look the ancient beast was already charging, and she was left to wait an impact which didn't arrive.

In that sudden confusion, she realized only after moments that the feminine Crobat that guarded her room was holding her, roughly lifting her in the air and out of Giratina's aim.

"Have you lost your mind, human...?" the voice came cool and neutral, but there was a certain depth and slowness to it that made Cynthia feel _afraid_.  
There he was, the man who had kidnapped her, coming in her direction after seemingly having calmed Giratina.

"I knew you were foolish creatures, but I thought everyone had its limits." he continued, now standing in front of her, and Cynthia noticed just then how towering his physique was: "You should be grateful that Jupiter was following you, and contacted me before that Pokémon could strike. I expect no more of this recklessness and fooling around, understood?"

The woman didn't reply, still too shocked from the blur of events. Jupiter -who at this point she supposed was the Crobat- let her land back on her feet, not without a disapproving look, and nudged her to what was probably the way back to the mansion.

Trying to keep her distance and leaving a last glance at the Rebel floating away, Cynthia silently followed.

* * *

Initially, Cynthia was still on a stubborn "refusal" mode.

And as such, she didn't come out of the room assigned to her, nor did she speak a word to anyone. Cyrus didn't push himself on her and just ignored her, not even going to check on the woman, while the three bat Pokémon tried bribing her in being more cooperative.

Well, not all of them; Mars showed a certain hostility and prissy attitude towards Cynthia, and the other two chalked it up with Mars being jealous. Not that the Sinnoh Champion minded much, she had started to see Mars as almost a cute little girl with that attitude.

Saturn liked bragging about every minimally "cool" happening they did or witnessed, which both amused and annoyed Cynthia (she was curious to an extent, redundance had a limit too), and Jupiter -when she wasn't aloof and silent- was apparentely very good at reading others, because she would always make small talk about things that really caught the blonde woman's interest.

They would also try and tell her about why their "Master Cyrus" was such a great person, since he was so clever, polite, charismatic and fought for a world without strife...to which Cynthia only listened half of, and believed even less.

But in any case, after a few days that resulted in Cynthia starting to loosen up with them and making her first steps outside her room.

"...videogames?"

Saturn almost screamed in a definetely not manly way, Mars giggling at his side, but he did a good job at hiding his startlement.

Cynthia , who was behind the sofa and the gaming duo, laid her arms on the back cushions, head resting on her hands, as she curiously inspected the gaming set: "I never thought I'd see videogames in a vampire's house that's stuck in some parallel dimension."

Saturn was going to protest, but noting his annoyance Mars handed to the woman one of the controllers with a grin: "Well yeah, as you can see Master Cyrus isn't the stereotype of vampire ya humans always think of, always dark and gothic! He's actually into technology and modern stuff! Wanna play~?"

"MARS!" shouted Saturn, "And here I was, thinking you couldn't stand the prisoner." commented Jupiter with an half-amused smirk.  
"Not like I like her!" exclaimed Mars defensively: "But if she gets bored then she'll start be annoying and Master Cyrus wouldn't like that!"  
"Whatever," said Jupiter raising her hands before disappearing in another room.

"Mmh, it's not like I'm much of a gamer to be honest…" said Cynthia getting back to Mars' initial offer: "But thanks a lot anyways! It's just that I prefer reading, or going on some real life adventures rather than virtual ones."

"Oh, that's it?" distractly replied Mars, grabbing the controller back for herself and starting doing her best to virtually kick Saturn's ass the moment she heard Cynthia's refusal: "I can understand adventures, but reading that much sounds bo~riing! It sounds an awful lot like what Master likes to do!"

"He likes to read?" inquired the Champion, leaning further onto the sofa.  
"Yeah! He actually has more than one library room in the mansion, some we're allowed in, some not-SATTY THAT WAS UNFAIR!"  
"It's not unfair locking you with a combo!"  
"Is too!"  
"Is not!"  
"Is t-" "Okay guys, calm down!" chimed in Cynthia, leaning forward so that her face and part of her torso was in-between the quarrelling duo. Was it normal for Pokémon to argue like children despite their late teen-young adult appearances?

Her interest was actually piqued at the mention of multiple libraries, and was honestly eager to get back on topic: "So, you say some of these library rooms are free to use, right?"  
"Sure are!" replied Mars, but Saturn was quick to correct her: "Yeah, for _us_. I don't think the same applies to you, human."  
"Mmh, well…" continued the redhead pensive (which allowed for Saturn to lock her again in a combo) : "...Master Cyrus _did_ say to make yourself at home, isn't it? So I'm guessing you can."  
Cynthia beamed the two a smile: "Very well then! If it's no issue I'll go check them out right away!"

As soon as the blonde Champion was out of the way, Saturn groaned, glaring at Mars: "Why the heck would you encourage her?! I actually thought you didn't like her..!"  
"Yeah, but saw Master Cyrus when they interacted the first day? He didn't like her attitude at all! I'm just hoping that by giving in with some silly demand of hers, making herself feel better, _safer_ here, she'll loosen up a bit instead of bein' all bitchy. Because you know, that would mean a very irritated Cyrus, and honestly, that terrorizes me, especially now that he's reaching the limit and must be getting hungry..!"

Saturn got shivers at the mere thought.

"You know what, for once it seems like you've got a good idea. You're maturing, Mars!"  
"...I don't know if thanking you or _punching_ you for that."

Cynthia cautiously explored the little mansion, all of a sudden incredibly nervous about the whole thing. Maybe she should have asked Mars or Saturn to show her the library rooms, because the thought of randomly opening the doors, with the possibility of angering that irritating vampire, sounded quite risky.

Carefully, softly knocking on each door before quickly peeking in, Cynthia checked quite a handful of rooms before finally finding one of the libraries. She made sure that the gloomy vampire wasn't around, and finally stepped in, finding some of her usual confidence back with each step. The young woman marveled at the amount of books, and was surprised to see that there were many that sounded too complex even for her -and she had always considered herself a quite smart person.

However, she felt absolutely amazed when she found that a large section of the library was about mythology. Most of the books she had already read, but there were still some quite rare volumes she had only dreamed to put her hands on. Most of the books were more specifically about the Creation myths, and she was both amused and intrigued whenever she saw little personal notes scribbled on some pages.

If Cyrus had an interest in myths as well, then maybe they had some common ground to start talking...and maybe, if she got enough on his good side, he would have let her go...

The thought darkened her gentle features, and she absent-mindendly stared out one of the windows, into the crimson-blue abyss.  
Under normal circumstances, she would be way more determined to solve things, but this was in no way what would be classified as a "normal circumstance"; kidnapped by a vampire? In another dimension? Seriously? Had she heard it, she wouldn't have believed it herself!

And yet despite that, she still had stubbornly tried to find a way out at first chanche, but truth was, without her Pokemon she didn't stand a chanche, and even if she had them on hand...well, outside the world was just a chaotic void, a puzzle with mismatched pieces and too many holes to understand. She would still probably get lost, or _worse_.

Shaking off the image of the fallen god looming over her, she shifted her attention back to the mythology volumes, and suddenly an idea lit up in her mind: maybe, the answers she seeked about Distortion World, especially how to get out of it, were there...Cyrus had to learn how in some way, didn't he?

With a new burst of hope and excitement, Cynthia started flipping through the books' pages, just as the library's room creaked open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had most of this typed up since Chapters 1-2, but only found time to finish it today, sorry c,: However, it's more than double the lenght of previous chapters, yay~!  
> Are you feeling the Beauty and the Beast vibes in this? I realized only halfway how much of an influence it had on me/this chapter, ahah, hope you don't mind that 'cause it's purely a coincidence xD  
> Well, hope you enjoy this! Right now I'm having some IRL issues, but I hope to update soon ^^  
> Thanks a lot to everyone reading!


	4. Chapter 4

"...what are you doing here?"

The calm, emotionless voice made Cynthia almost jump. She instictively held the book she was consulting closer to her chest, and turned around to see Cyrus still at the doorframe, eyeing her. The woman couldn't see any anger or irritation in him -actually, she couldn't see _anything at all_ \- but she was still somewhat panicked.

Thankfully, she had always been good at keeping her cool, and her reply came within seconds, as she remembered Mars' words: "Well, you _did say_ to make myself at home, wasn't it?"  
Seeing as he wouldn't move, Cynthia turned back to the desk full of scattered books, quickly adding: "A-and then, your _batty lackeys_ gave me the information and permission to do so…!"  
From the corner of her eyes, she could see Cyrus leaving a small sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose, seemingly mumbling something to himself.

"Fine then. If you find any enjoyment in this, you are free to access the library. However," he paused a second, and walked towards her: "I assume that this would mean you are accepting, or at least aknowledging, my rules."  
"Like I would ever…!" started Cynthia raising a fist, but stopped mid-action as if frozen.  
"Fret not. I have no intention to do anything _right now_...it's not the moment, nor place. But, I am afraid my patience is _limited_."  
Cynthia found that she could move again, and slowly lowered her arm, still suspiciously glaring at the man.

"...mythology?" briefly inquired Cyrus, eyeing the book the blonde was holding and those scattered on the desk.  
"Just an hobby," she quickly replied, closing the open books and setting them all aside: "I was bored, that's all."  
"Is that so."  
"Well...you seem to be really into this stuff though, aren't you?"

Cyrus slightly arched a thin eyebrow: "Did my assistants tell you anything?"  
"Ahahah, no no! Just told me you like to read, no worries!" she briefly chuckled, before realizing with who she was talking and stiffened again: "I just noticed the multiple notes left on the books, that's all. That must be your writing, isn't it?"

The man silently scanned the pile of books again, nodding to himself: "A research. I hold no particular interest of personal connotation to the subject."  
"May I ask what's this research about then?"  
"I doubt a mere human may understand my aspirations."  
"You know, the fact you keep underestimating me is starting to irk me."  
"That is none of my concerns."

Cynthia rolled her eyes and returned to the books, absent-mindedly browsing through the pages of a random one: "Well, if you have to be such a killjoy, why don't you just leave me alone? You know, reading is supposed to be a relaxing activity."  
"Until proven otherwise, this is _my_ house, and I may do as I please. _But_ ," he continued as she was starting to open her mouth: "I see no point in continuing this conversation."

He turned to leave the room, and the woman made a face of distaste before returning to the books. She heard, however, him stating as he walked out -in an almost mocking way-: "You will not find what you're looking for; not in _those_ books."

* * *

"Soooo, what would be your "master's" research all about?"

Saturn narrowed his eyes at the blonde woman, crossing his arms: "It's not my place to tell. Right now, I'm only supposed to bring you dinner…!"  
"Awww, come on!" pried Cynthia, slightly elbowing him playfully: "It's surely something quite important, isn't it? I'm sure he asks your help as well, you all must put so much effort into it, I bet it's something you should be proud of!"

"Weeeeell…" started Saturn, but was harshly interrupted by Mars: "What are you, dumb or deaf? Where were you all the times me and Satty told ya how wonderful Master Cyrus is because he wants to create a perfect world, one without injustice, sadness or whatever bad things?"

"Create a perfect world?" Cynthia had a look of disbelief: "But that's impossible, it's just an utopy. And what would mythology help him in that? Maybe he wants to study how the world was at its origins, and see if he can implement some if its apparent peace in modern times…?"

"That's none of your business! And then...he doesn't share much about it with us. Just enough for us to understand and carry on orders." admitted Saturn, scratching the back of his head and looking away.

"Well, that's too bad. I am rather well-informed about mythology, and if it's of so much interest to him, I may be even able to help. A world without injustice sounds just like my type of world, I guess he's not that much of a bad guy afterall." replied the blonde woman, a bit pensive. She made a mental note to inquire more with Cyrus about the topic.

"Would you really?"  
"We don't need _your_ help!"  
Was the simultaneous reply, from Saturn and Mars respectively.

"Why not?" started Cynthia, deciding to ignore Mars' remark: "I mean, I would have to know more from Cyrus first and…"

"No, no you will not." came Jupiter's sharp reply. If there was something Mars -and now also Cynthia- didn't like about Jupiter, one was how she managed to sneak in without a sound and scare the beejezus out of her. Oh, and how she acted all superior, how cold she was 85% of the time...Mars' mental rambling was interrupted by Jupiter, who had now approached the three.

"You stay out of this, human. It's none of your business, what does make you think that our Master would want you to help? You're no more than his favorite candy bar right now; you may come in a pretty packaging, but that's all you are."

"You think she's jealous?" asked Mars in a whisper to Saturn's ear.  
"Nah silly, that's _you_ , Jupiter's not the type." was his equally whispered reply: "She's probably just butthurt at the possibility that Master Cyrus would want help from a human stranger instead of ours. You know, she's always been quite the prideful one."

Cynthia was seemingly unaffected, and turned to her dinner, which was starting to get cold: "I'm sure your "Master" will tell me himself in such case, surely he's clever enough to not need a lawyer. Don't you get all worked up for something I merely mentioned, sweetie...and now, would you please leave me have dinner in peace? You wouldn't want to spoil the nutritional factors of your Master's favorite candy bar, mmmh~? I'm sure he wouldn't like that."

Jupiter only gave her a glare and turned on her heels, motioning to Mars and Saturn to follow her. She never liked debating, and she surely wasn't about to cave in one because of a stupid human.

Cynthia smiled to herself, and finally enjoyed her dinner and the silence of her room.

* * *

The morning after, Cynthia was woken up by the sound of a rambling Mars and something soft thrown on her.

"What, wait…. _what_?!" the blonde only managed to mumble in confusion.  
"Your clothes! Since the ones Jupiter took on second day apparentely weren't enough, today it was my turn to go and fetch _your majesty_ her things!"  
"Hey, now, it's not like I asked to be kidnapped!" replied Cynthia now fully irked and awake, gently folding the clothes and setting them on the nearby nightstand.  
"Whatever! I have no intention on doing it again, there were so many people around…!" screeched Mars as she took her Pokémon form and flied out of the room.

Cynthia looked down at the still unfolded clothes in her hands, saddened.  
It had been almost a week. People were worried, and looking for her. To think she was causing so much trouble, and just for the whim of a monster…

She resumed her folding work, and as she got to her jacket she noticed something hard in one of the pockets. _Her phone_.

In hope and disbelief, she immediately started fiddling with it: it appeared to be turned off, but she probably had done so manually because the phone lit up without an issue, half battery still charged.

Only one person knew about the whole issue with the three bats and would probably be more inclined to believe her; and so, without hesitation, she dialed up Steven's number, and crossed her fingers.

* * *

Steven was talking with Lucian and the others of Sinnoh's E4, repeating for the umpteenth time what he had said to the cops, to Cynthia's family, to the press, to Cynthia's Garchomp…

"Yes, it seems I've been the last person in contact with her. We were on Skype before she would go to sleep, as usual, then she got up to get a tub of ice-cream -so she said-, Skype glitched and I haven't heard anything from her since…" his face went white as he saw Cynthia's name popping up on his screen.

"It can't be….guys, it's Cynthia!" he only managed to exclaim, immediately picking up.

But all that filled his ears was faint static and the slightly distorted voice of Cynthia, anything she was trying to say incomprehensible. Steven tried talking to her, looking panicked at the E4 while fiddling with some tools he got from Devon to at least track her position.

Sadly, all he got were mostly glitchy results, but for some seconds it would give Turnback Cave as Cynthia's -or at least her phone's- position.

* * *

Cynthia threw the phone on the bed in frustration. _Of course_ it wouldn't work. Not to mention she stubbornly clung to an older phone model which already had shitty coverage in her own dimension, let alone another one. All she could hear was Steven's voice distorted, and static.

She was back to step one. The young woman sat for some minutes on her bed, head in her hands, trying to bury the inevitable delusion that comes with shattered hope.

There _had_ to be another way.

Mechanically, she sat up, roughly combed her hair, and resumed to put her clothes in order. So, what did she knew about Distortion World? Basically nothing. Cyrus was probably the only one who knew how to go to and from the two dimensions, and he surely wasn't going to tell her. His servants may know that too, given they ran errands for him, but it was very unlikely they would tell her, even with some manipulation. The only time she actually tried to gather information she couldn't find nothing in the books, just like Cyrus said…

Cynthia suddenly halted. He said she wouldn't find anything in _those_ books. That meant there were probably others in which she could find information.  
She smacked her head in realization; the private library! How didn't she think about it before?

The woman had just finished dressing up for the day and was opening the door, only to find a quite nervous Saturn who was almost going to knock on her face.

"Oh! So you're up!" he said startled, immediately lowering his hand: "May I have a moment? We need to talk."  
Cynthia chewed a bit on her inner cheek in annoyance, her mind stuck to the private library, but let him in. Maybe she could shape the conversation to convince Saturn to tell her about that room.

The young man sat in one of the white chairs in the room, waiting for Cynthia to take a seat as well. She complied, and he almost immediately started talking: "It's been almost a week, miss. Listen, I am aware this is not the ideal situation to you but...I can tell my Master is starting to lose his patience, and if that happens, this already unpleasant circumstance will become even more so. For _everyone_."

"Are you here to treathen me on Cyrus' behalf? That's low, even for a vampire." commented the blonde raising a brow.  
"No no! He actually wants you to collaborate, since he doesn't like physical action he wouldn't like to use force at all! He doesn't want to drug you either, says it spoils the taste of your blood."  
"Oh, _how nice_ of him."  
"Just please, consider cooperating miss!"  
"Does he really have to - _ugh_ \- bite me? Can't he just take a syringe of my blood or something, like you and your friends did the first months?"

Saturn mulled on it for a moment: "I'm guessing it's the natural instict of a vampire taking over, finally. But I know he doesn't like physical touch either, that's why he hired us in the first place, so it may be the best situation for both…"  
"Well, tell him it's like that or nothing." concluded Cynthia standing up and storming out of the room.  
"H-hey, it's not like you make the rules! Know your place, human!" was the only thing the blue-haired man replied, but he didn't go after her.

Guessing which of the rooms was the private library was going to be hard. Cynthia managed to find, among the others, Mars' bedroom (in which she was still sleeping very cutely if she could add) and another public library, which she planned to visit later. There were a few locked rooms, but the blonde's excitement about her new plan faded as she realized she had no clue how to open them (traditional locks were not a thing in this place apparentely, everything was hi-tech), and she didn't know which one was actually the library either (as she certainly didn't want to barge in Cyrus' _bedroom_ ).

Lost in thought in front of one of those locked doors, she gasped in startlement as she felt someone behind her, leaning a hand against the door as if to trap her.

"Looking for something?"

And there was again that feeling, making Cynthia unable to move.  
"Yes, actually. But I doubt you'd help me." she managed to reply, fighting the paralysis with all herself.  
"Well, you're not helping me, so why should I return the favor?"  
"You're a freakin' psycho, why would I want to help you in the first place, you _kidnapped_ me." her replies now were whispered through clenched teeth, and she couldn't tell if it was because of the paralysis or anger.

"Rest assured it's not a want, but a need. I'd rather not have strangers in my home, _snooping in my rooms_." shot back Cyrus, and slowly set her thick blond hair aside to expose her pale neck: "What is this nonsense about syringes you've been telling my servant?"  
Cynthia shivered, but could otherwise not move: "Nonsense? It would be the most logical resolution, don't you think? It's my blood you want, not contact with me. And I sure as hell don't wanna be touched by a sick fuck like you."

"That would be ideal, yes. But see, there's something I aknowledged while feeding on you during this time: first, the taste seems to different, better, if consumed directly from the source. Second, it seems that "hunting" brings also psychological benefits, and trust me, it's something I myself am disgusted by. Think of it like a snake refusing to eat an already dead mice."

Cynthia faintly shivered again; she thought to have a chanche to avoid this whole mess, but it looked like his mind was already dead set. And as much as she hated that, as long as he kept her paralyzed who-knows-how, she was powerless to stop him.

The vampire, not hearing further replies from her, was already starting to near his fangs to her neck, and in a panic Cynthia raised her voice as much as she could: "N-no! WAIT!"

Cyrus was visibly irritated, but halted.

"I, uhm...will...will it hurt?" she was grasping at straws to try and delay him as much as she could, but she couldn't think of anything better to say.  
"No. I doubt you may remember, but the first couple times my skills were rusty, yes; but now, my bite is regular just as any other vampire, and I'd dare say it will even bring you pleasure."  
He inched again towards her, and she tried squeaking out something else: "P-pleasure?! No way! How in the world could I possibly enjoy this…?"  
Cyrus sighed, stopping again: "It's not about whether you like it or not, it's just science. I will inject you with a pleasure-inducing substance. Even some Pokémon do that - _Jupiter does_ -, it's in order to keep the prey paralyzed...let's just say that for my kin this tactic has developed."

Now she really didn't know what else to add. She could feel already his breath on her neck, his canines prickling her skin...and then she suddenly got an idea.  
"Nnno, wait...not now, I just woke up…! Why don't you tell me about your perfect world, instead? What if I can help you with that?"

Cyrus froze, and backed away. Even though she couldn't move, Cynthia could see him deep in thought from the corner of her eye, and for the first time since she was there she saw _life_ in his eyes.

"Sounds doable," and hearing that, she gave a sigh of relief, but was immediately interrupted: "but we'll have to postpone this for later - _I just can't focus when I'm hungry._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it goes with the shitty chapters...! Because Cynthia agreeing to being bitten and bonding with those four dorks will be extremely hard, if not unbelievable, to build up xD Still, I'll try~! There's always some point in fanfics where I find it hard to continue writing because I'm unsure of my storytelling skills, but in the end hey -I'm not writing a book! I realized I should do this just for fun, as it was supposed to start c: So constructive critique and suggestions are always welcome, as I really want to improve, but please remember I'm doing this for fun ^^ Anyways, thanks to anyone who may be reading this! It means a whole lot to me! /sends kisses


	5. Chapter 5

Cynthia was still in a bad mood. A _very_ bad mood.

She was still clutching an ice pack to her neck, even though she didn't need that, and sipping on juice with her other hand, glaring at Cyrus.  
The fact she was on such a bad mood didn't help her taking more open-mindendly what the vampire had just told her about his so-called " _perfect world"_.

A world without injustice? Great. No strife, no wars, and no corrupted society? Sign me up.  
No emotion or spirit, and a self-proclaimed vampire god? _All aboard the nopetrain_.

"No wonder your plan didn't work before," commented the woman, still hastily looking at him: "you're fucking crazy."

Cyrus closed his eyes and rested back against his armchair: "You are just the same as everyone else, I should have imagined it. You're still too imperfect to understand the greatness of my plans. But fret not," he reopened his eyes, and Cynthia shivered from his souless stare: "if not you, someone else will wake up in my world, and understand. I have all eternity ahead of me to fulfill my dream."

Cynthia shook her head, finally setting the ice pack aside: "Ugh, don't you hear yourself? You're not doing this for the sake of society, you're an egoistical child still chasing _your dream_. Who tells you that's what other people want? Perfection is a subjective thing, and therefore can't exist for everyone; I don't care if you got such a trauma that you want to wipe away forever your oh-so-sad-and-angry emotions, it's YOUR problem, and you will not force it on others!"

Cyrus was going to hastily reply, but after a few pensive moments Cynthia squealed in recognition: "Wait, if you said you already tried this and failed...you are _that_ Cyrus? The one who founded Galactic Industries at the young age of 21, and who disappeared roughly 20 years ago after the Mt. Coronet accident?! I was still in kindergarten back then, but my grandma does still mention the accident here and there!"

The vampire stared at her in disbelief, and then buried his face in one of his hands: "Of course you'd know, despite your age...it made quite the news back then. I'm not surprised to know people still talk about...about my _failure_."

Trying to push back the memories and the disappointment they brought, he eyed the young woman, expecting another tirade about his project, but instead found himself showered in questions about the Legendary Pokémon - how they were, how their power was, how they communicated...the blonde surely was passionate about mythology. (Still though, the tirade happened later)

"In any case," said Cynthia changing topic, after she felt like she'd ranted enough about his morals -or lack thereof- : "how did you even happen to become a...a vampire?"

Cyrus stiffened, seemingly starting to get uncomfortable for the first time: "It's none of your business."  
"Yeah, I'm kind of starting of getting the habit to this reply…" she was admittedly annoyed at that, but recognized it may have been rude of her to ask...it probably wasn't something pleasant, so she changed topic: "How about Distortion World, how did you manage to get here, and even live here? How are you able to keep Giratina at bay? I would have expected it to wipe anyone away from its territory, or something."

"It's a long story," he replied, massaging his temples: "but interdimensional travelling it's actually easy once you get how it works, and the Legendary isn't as dangerous as it's famed to be."  
"And Mars, Saturn and Jupiter? They're Pokémon, right? How can they speak, or turn into humans at will?"  
"I needed servants, they were willing to abide my orders in exchange of humanhood; there are quite a few things that a vampire's powers can grant. Any more questions?"

Cynthia, grinned, her eyes sparkling: "Actually, yes!"  
It was true that vampires were part of that mythology branch she wasn't majorly interested in, but they were fascinating creatures nonetheless and she wanted to sink into herself as much knowledge as she could: "Are you really a creature of the night? It seems you're up at roughly the same time as I! And what are your weaknesses, surely not silly things like crosses and garlic like in folklore, right? Can you read others' minds? And can you fly, or transform yourself in a flying creature like a bat? How many of you are there?"

Cyrus raised a hand to stop the flood of questions, and even though he looked quite uncomfortable he patiently replied to everything: "Here, in Distortion World, time isn't stable so I couldn't say...however, I am sensible to sunlight, so that may be why my kin prefers a nocturnal lifestyle. And no, sunlight doesn't turn me to ashes, nor I am bothered by garlic or crosses. I'd rather not share my real weaknesses.  
I can't read others' minds normally, but I can to a certain extent while sucking blood. I prefer blending with darkness to move in your dimension...it's hard to explain, but I don't fly nor transform myself; it's like I become one with darkness, and can move through it.  
I have no idea about others, as I prefer my solitude, but during the... _first period_ I've been contacted by other vampires. Apparentely there's a whole hidden society of them, but I'd rather have nothing to do with them...they're no less disgusting than humans."

The Sinnoh's Champion smiled at him: "Well, thank you! I actually wasn't expecting you to reply to everything; it's very interesting to know!"  
She gracefully sat up from her armchair, and exited the room looking for the kitchen, as it was almost lunch time.

Cyrus followed her with his gaze briefly. He didn't remember smiles could be so beautiful, and such a realization angered him.

* * *

"...there's nothing here. The results were glitched anyways, so most likely this is not the right place."

Steven sighed as the cops started retreating from Turnback Cave. It was true it wasn't logical for Cynthia to be there, but it was the only clue he had and he subconsciously clinged to it. He swore to check back later by himself, in case he could find something, _anything_.

Cynthia was such a nice girl, it was beyond himself who could hurt her. Sure, as the first female Champion she had some issues due to some extreme traditionalists, but they would never bring it to such an extent. She was an all-around loved character, very popular even beyond Sinnoh...this made no sense.

And then, there were also his feelings mixing in with the natural concern. Before this mess, he was planning to ask Wallace to momentarily take his place as Champion so that he could spend some time in Sinnoh, with _her_ ; he would have used his obsession with rocks as an excuse to get a tour from her, and then work from that...ever since she saw her at the International League Conference and they became friends, his feelings rapidly changed. He wondered if she felt the same way, too.

But that was of no importance now. Leaving a last glance -for now- at Turnback Cave, he followed the cops out of the place.

None of them seemingly noticed the shadowy silhouette of Giratina reflected on Sendoff Spring's waters.

* * *

"Ok, listen,"

Cyrus raised his head from his papers, seeing a quite nervous Cynthia leaning against the doorframe, tapping her foot: "I can close an eye and...ugh...try and cooperate with you, but at one condition: I want access to all of your library rooms."

"Someone else may find you even funny. I don't need to bow down to your whims, I'll eventually take what I need, human."  
"And stop calling me _human_! I have a name, and I'd like you to show me at least some respect if I am to be stuck here!"  
"Fine, _Cynthia_. The answer is still the same, I don't need to come down with useless pacts with you. Why do you even want to get into the private room so badly? Not even my servants are admitted there."

"Seeing from the amount of mythology books you have in the other rooms, I think it's safe assuming there are more in the private one, possibly rarer or more interesting. You should know by now how much of a nerd I am in that subject, and it seems that burying myself in books it's the only entertaining activity here…" she tried being as convincing as possible, even if that was only half the truth.

Cyrus narrowed his eyes.  
"...do you think I'm stupid?"  
"I...of course not!"  
"I noticed what you were looking for in the library the other day. And your blood this morning confirmed it. I am not going to let you run away so easily; not until I can rest assured you will cooperate, even once you're back."  
"Oh fine, it's that what you want? Ok, I will "cooperate"! Just as long as I don't have to be stuck here!"

The vampire shook his head at her: "I don't _trust_ you."  
And with that he left the room, audibly closing the door behind him.

* * *

The days following were extremely stressful, for everyone.

Cynthia, now without ideas on how to get out of her prison, was avoiding contact with anyone, but still keeping up her defiance as to at least not let her pride shatter as well.  
Cyrus would just pretend it was like as if she was still in her own home, and sneaked up on her, paralysis and all, whenever she was vulnerable.

Mars, Saturn and Jupiter were still very loyal to their Master's side of course, but tried being nicer to Cynthia in hopes to unwind some of her stress -and, subsequentially, the stress in the whole mansion. Cynthia would sometimes vent to Saturn or Mars, so they were also starting to sort of empathize with the woman.

"Cynthia, look!"

The blonde woman turned her eyes from the book she was reading to see a grinning Mars, in her Noibat form, happily swirling in the air while pointing at a messily-made flower crown on her head: "See it? I saw one of these on the cover of that book you were reading me yesterday, and I thought it looked soooo pretty, so I made one! Am I pretty~?"

Cynthia couldn't help but burst out in laughter and petting Mars' head: "Of course you are! You've always been, silly! But wait," she looked more carefully at the flower crown: "I've never seen those flowers, are they...from Distortion World?"  
"Sure are! They're cool, right?"  
"Oh, yes, very much. Everything looks quite blue in Distortion World, isn't it?" replied the woman, softly touching one of the blue, curled petals of the unknown flower, seeing some red peeking out from its center: "Or red. They contrast quite nicely, though."

Mars lowered so that she was next to Cynthia's ear, her voice a whisper: "You know, I actually like it this way. Kind of…. _remindsmeofSaturn_."  
Cynthia was taken aback, and then gave a loving smile, chuckling lightly: "Ooooh, so you like him? I see, the flowers are blue, with red inside their core -or better, _heart_. You're quite poetic actually, sweetie~"  
"D-don't you dare mocking me! And….don't tell him either! I said nothing!" squeaked Mars, her fur even redder than it was before.  
"Of course not, I'd never," replied the blonde, gently scratching the Noibat's head: "it's a secret between us, promise. And I think he will find you very pretty too!"  
"I'll go show him!" grinned Mars, ready to take flight out of the room, but stayed pensive for a moment and then looked at Cynthia: "Is there someone you like?"

Cynthia mused on the question for a moment, and shook her head: "There _may_ be someone. I...I really didn't give it much of a serious thought yet, though. I always preferred focusing on my work, and with being happy with myself, rather than men."  
"Is that _maybe someone_ waiting for you in the other world?"  
The Champion's gentle expression faded to a sad smile: "Yes. I hope he's not too worried."

When she looked up again to Mars, her big eyes were filling up with tears. She often forgot just how emotive the Pokémon could be at times.  
"That's...that's just _sooooo sad_!" bawled the Noibat, and Cynthia was quick to hold her in her arms: "Shh, it's ok sweetie, it's not a tragic lovestory or anything! We're just close friends!"  
"T-that's still sad! I know I'd miss Satty, even if we stayed just friends! And Master Cyrus and maybe even Juju too!"

Determination lit up Cynthia's silver eyes.  
"Don't worry for me, Mars. I'll eventually get back home. Soon, hopefully. And, aren't you hungry? I'll make you something sweet, and we can show Saturn how pretty you are with the flower crown!" concluded the woman with a wink.

Mars instantly cheered up and started flying in circles around Cynthia's head: "That sounds good! Will you make me pancakes~?"  
"I will make you pancakes."  
"With extra Nutella, whipped cream and strawberries?"  
"How would you eat it elseway?"

The two headed for the kitchen laughing, and Cyrus, observing them from an hallway, felt something tugging at his chest.

* * *

It was when she found herself tangled in her bedsheets, unable to sleep and wondering when would he bite her again, that she truly knew something was horribly, terribly _wrong_ with her.

Ever since the talk with Mars, Cynthia had tried her best to take her proverbial lemons and make lemonade out of it. She spent her days as best as she could, using the house as if it was hers, even finding some enjoyment in homely chores -especially cooking- . She would spend time with her little batty friends, even strolling out in that chaotic world with them, and she initially was very surprised to find she was having fun.

Even though she disliked it, she tried being more compliant towards Cyrus' hunger, and in an attempt as to not see him and the whole situation as enitirely negative she tried spending some almost-friendly time with him as well. She didn't like to admit it, but he was actually a very clever person and had the most entertaining talks -debates included- with him than she had with anyone else on Earth. And for how much he constantly pissed her off, there was something about him she couldn't quite pinpoint that almost made her want to just hug him and try to help that poor shell of a man.

She actually never considered things from his point of view, but this existance...it must have felt so lonely for him, and degradating to be reduced to an humanoid leech, having to do such filthy things in order to survive.

Cynthia actually had found herself pondering about it one day while she was baking cupcakes, all because Giratina decided to stick its head in the window to have a taste of the pastries.

"I think I know why you've let him here, you know?" she told to the banished Legendary, helping it to more cupcakes: "You share the same pain. You're lonely, outcasted, misunderstood by others, and you can't do anything about it."  
Giratina briefly raised its head from the sweet treats, intensely looking at the woman, before diving into them again.

The blonde smiled to herself: "Yes, he wouldn't admit it either. But that's because he brought Mars, Saturn and Jupiter here right? Whatever he may say, he does feel lonely, and he probably needs someone giving him some support, too."

Whatever had changed between them, it was apparent even in her blood it seemed, as Cyrus had commented at some point how it tasted better. He was seemingly trying to make the bite itself a better experience for her as well, as it had become more tender, even licking her neck to prepare her for the bite, but that was probably her mind over-romanticizing things as a psychological defense. Or to justify why, to her horror, she found herself _moaning_ during the last few bites.

But nothing, _nothing_ could justify why she would go as far as to crave the vampire's bites. It was something that completely ashamed her, and failed to follow her logic, or even her emotions.

The bites had already increased from two to three per week, yet there she was, merely at the second day without being bitten, and she was desperate for another one.  
Her head was clouded, as if she was feverish or drunk, but she picked up immediately the low voice in her room.

"Are you still awake?"

Cynthia spun around so quickly that Cyrus was almost startled, and she furiously grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.  
"What the fuck, why did it take you so damn long? Just get over with it already, please…!" she aggressively pleaded, so unlikely of her, while pulling the vampire against her.

Cyrus was so shocked by surprise that for a while he just didn't know how to react. He finally gave in to his vampire insticts and to her pleas, without even bothering to paralyze her.  
As a result, he could feel her arms clinging to him, grabbing at his hair and clothes, and her blood tasted even _better_ , leaving him to wonder just _how much more_ could it get better than this.

A while later, while flying in the mansion to give a last security check, Jupiter found the vampire sitting in an armchair, staring wide-eyed at the crackling fireplace.

Seeing his unusual expression, she nervously approached him: "Is...is everything alright, Master Cyrus…?"  
"She _wanted_ me to bite her."

Jupiter sighed, and posed herself on the armchair, albeit keeping her distance.  
"That would be quite normal."  
"But I haven't sensed anything from her blood. There was some self-loathing, but everything was just drowned in her... _pleasure_."  
"Oh right, I haven't told you yet, did I?"

Cyrus looked at her, narrowing his eyes: " _What_ , Jupiter?"  
"Well, you never asked information about it, so...but anyways," she tried upkeeping her cool facade, even if her Master often managed to crumble her in a pile of anxiety: "the substance you inject her with, to not let her feel any pain, it's, well…. _addictive_. I'm honestly surprised she lasted a bit over a month without giving into it."

"...elaborate."

"Well, it's not something very known, if not for vampires romantically involved with only one human, because usually vampires are creatures who rarely prey on the same individual repeatedly. But yes, since it's both a painkiller and pleasure-inducing, it can be _very_ addictive. I actually think that, should you two continue this, it will become even a worse addiction. She will be the one demanding it to you, and will become unable to live without it.  
Thankfully, it's nothing like those drugs and meds humans use, so it should be much easier to get out if it, should the feeding stop. Kind of like badly ending a relationship, it kills you at the beginning and you can't stop thinking about it, but you eventually get over it...I've already seen it happen."

"I see…" was all that Cyrus muttered in reply, his eyes darker.

Well, at least he now knew he had a warrancy over that blood he so much craved for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I'm not particularly happy with how this one came out. Idk, everyone always seems OOC for how much as I try ;v; The only ones who are supposed to be OOC are Mars and Saturn (especially Mars); due to them being cute young bat Pokémon I can't help but imagining them more childish in this AU...sorry guys, but I have a weak spot for fluff xD They'll have time to be mature in future fics anyways!
> 
> As always, thanks to everyone for taking their time to read this! I'm really grateful!   
> (and very sorry for being so late in uploading this, it was actually been all written up -like also the next chapter- since before I posted Ch4, I've just completely forgot about it because of IRL issues. Sorry!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually written up since a couple months, but always sat there collecting dust because I wasn't happy with it. I decided to proof-read it one last time and just go with it, if it's not my best chapter, whatever, I'll deal with it xD Original chapter notes can be found at the end! Thanks for reading!

Initially, she thought her change of attitude was the right thing, and that because of it she would have been able to endure her confinement to the strange mansion in Distortion World.

But she was wrong.

Cynthia had always been such a bright person, and always loved socializing. And now, after almost two months, the loneliness was starting to break her in. She was developing a friendly bond with the inhabitants of the mansion, _for as strange as that was_ , but she terribly missed her home, her family, her friends, her Pokémon. Heck, she even missed the loud screeches her Garchomp gave everytime, despite the blonde telling her to tone down her voice, or the way Aaron gave almost choking-sounding laughs at Flint's stupid jokes..  
It was almost funny how everything seemed faded, yet little things remained vivid in her mind.

Apparentely Cyrus wasn't lying when he said he could slightly read her from her blood, because at one point he must have tasted her sadness and homesickness, and stopped the bite to look at her. She couldn't exactly understand how he was looking at her, as she couldn't see any concern, or curiosity, or anything at all, but she broke down in tears anyways, loathing herself for losing her last shreds of dignity and sobbing so pathethically about _oh please letting her back home_.

However, it must have struck a chord, because the very day after Cyrus asked to talk with her.

"I wasn't expecting to keep you this long."  
"Is that an apology?" inquired Cynthia, a smug smile on her face.  
"No, it's not. Just a personal thought on how this situation wasn't planned, or poorly so. I am not acquainted to act after my impulses; if anything, the outcome of this just proves how useless they are." was his mechanical reply, to which the woman laughed.  
"Oh really? But I thought you did get what you wanted, isn't it? If you didn't, you wouldn't have my blood so freely."  
"I fail to understand you sometimes. You speak as if you're approving of how things went. Should I keep you here some more, then?"  
"N-no, that's not what I meant…!"

Cyrus sighed at her reaction. He could understand feeling uncomfortable in a forced situation, in an unknown place with equally unknown people. But how she desperately clinged to other human beings in order to feel any sort of self-fulfillment, of...happiness, was beyond himself. Most of the things she lamented of the night before, he couldn't understand at all.

He locked eyes with her, dead serious: "I need you to promise to not tell a soul about this. And to keep cooperating the next times I'll visit you. Or else, I will have to take _other measures_ to ensure that."

Cynthia's eyes widened; was he really going to let her go?  
"Of course! I promise!"

The vampire suddenly grabbed her, biting her more intensely than usual: " _Say it again_."

Cynthia gasped, not used to Cyrus using force when it came down to feeding, but promised again. Sensing her sincerity from the blood -and her panic, was she _afraid_ of him?-, he looked enough satisfied and let go of her. The look of shock on her face made him step back, and she silently pressed her fingers on her neck, the bite marks having left more blood pouring out than usual.

"I promise," she quietly repeated: "but don't you ever act like this again."

Cyrus slowly nodded, and the two remained in a quite awkward silence for a while.  
"Go pack up your things, we're leaving in a couple hours." he finally said, disappearing in the darkness of an hallway.

Packing up was way more bittersweet than Cynthia had imagined, especially with Mars and Saturn helping -the redhead begrudgingly so- and trying to act as if they didn't care at all...while sniffling the whole time. Jupiter mostly stayed on her own, as usual, but she did remind them here and there things to take or do.

"Come on, it's not the end of the world," cooed Cynthia as she wiped away the tears from Mars' cheeks as stealthily as she could: "you all know you can come and visit me when you want. Just no more "bloody assaults" ok? I already had to repair three windows because of that."

"Umphf, you talk like we actually want to come and visit!" stubbornly replied Mars crossing her arms.  
"Suit yourselves~" replied Cynthia in a sing-a-song tone while putting her last shirt away.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Cyrus announcing himself.  
"Well, is everything ready here? Jupiter will take your things home later, but the portal won't wait for us forever."  
Cynthia nodded, absent-mindedly handing her travel bag to Jupiter. So it was a portal! She wondered what were the requirements to have it show up, or how it looked…

But she could only blink, and then her head was spinning, the next thing she saw suddenly Sendoff Spring.

Cyrus was starting to explain how he didn't want her to see the process and put her to sleep, when he was interrupted by a loud, yet somehow gentle, male voice.

"Cynthia! CYNTHIA!"

Still dizzy from the sleeping spell, Cynthia didn't even have a chanche to react that suddenly Steven was glomping her, hugging her so tightly she could barely breathe.  
"I knew that this place had something to do, I kept checking every two weeks and god, you have been missing for nearly two months, we were all _so_ worried…!"  
"Wait, S-Steven? What?"

Steven finally loosened the hug, still firmly holding her though, and now that he was facing her Cynthia could see he was crying, but smiling. That only lasted a few moments though, as Steven's smile broke down and he held her again, even tighter than before.

"Almost two months and no news, not even a ransom or threat or anything, and there was blood, and signs of commotion in your house...people were starting to think you were _dead_ , Cynthia!" wailed the man between his choked sobs, and Cynthia, now getting her lucidity back, hesitantly hugged him back.

 _They thought she was dead?_ How many people were hurt because of this? She knew it wasn't her fault - _she'd been kidnapped for Arceus' sake_ \- but she couldn't help but feeling guilty all the same. Maybe because she had sympathized with her captors, which she mentally slapped herself for, and chalked the whole thing up to Stockholm Syndrome.

While she was amiably conversing with Cyrus and laughing with the bats, people were searching for her, feeling hope leaving as each day passed by…

Internally screaming at herself, her only outlet was to cry.

Steven probably mistook those tears as post-trauma ones, relief maybe, as he softened his embrace and gently caressed her hair, whispering that everything was going to be alright now, that she was safe. That made the self-loathing only intensify, as it became almost tangible in her chest, clawing so intensely that it hurt.

Afterwards, she couldn't tell if she passed out or was simply too slow to follow the swirl of events; she just knew that, when she either got her consciousness or ability to focus back, she was in the hospital. The woman could hear voices from outside the room she was resting in, and just quietly waited.

Finally, a doctor, officer Jenny, and her family -grandparents and younger sister- walked in, but she could briefly see Steven and her E4 friends waiting outside before the door closed.

Her grandma, Carolina, was the first to take her hand, gently but firmly enveloping it in her own wrinkled ones. She was smiling, but Cynthia could see in her eyes other than love, relief, and the strenght that characterized everyone in her family, also fear and concern.

The young woman felt like breaking down in tears again just at that, but held on. She decided to just stop her turmoil of emotions, if for just a while, and simply lull herself in the happiness of being able to see, _to touch_ , her beloved ones again.

Of course, she didn't have time to indulge in that, because the questions rained down like the Great Flood.

Cynthia didn't have the time to think of a cover-up excuse right then, so she just said she didn't have a single memory about her kidnapping. That made the others worry even more, afraid whoever the kidnapper was they may have played with Cynthia's memories, maybe through a psychic-type Pokémon. What baffled everyone, though, was the fact that the young woman seemed to be in perfect condition, without a sign of any type of abuse. She wasn't wounded, or emanciated, or anything; it was almost as if she had never disappeared in the first place.

Lying like that only made Cynthia hate even more herself, but she didn't dare do otherwise...she still didn't trust Cyrus much, and she wouldn't want him to have an excuse to hurt her beloved ones, or even just wipe away their memories. She had to hold on.

Very stressful and heart-wrenching days followed for her. It killed her seeing how much people were worried for her, and she tried to make that up by spending as much time with her beloved ones as possible. Many of her friends also offered to stay at her house for a few days, if that could make her feel better, to which she happily obliged. Even Flint, who always had a joke for every situation, was somber as opposed to his light-hearted self.

Even though most people understood she needed some quiet time to "recover", she still was very stressed by the pushing of doctors, policemen and the press. There were days she just wanted to shut herself at home and pretend she didn't exist.

It was roughly two weeks later that she saw _him_ again. And subconsciously, Cynthia was grateful, because even though the first days were a complete chaos and she couldn't focus on that, the persistent feeling, _need_ to be bitten was nagging at her since a few days.

She had been snuggling up on her sofa with Garchomp, annoyingly changing channel as she saw _yet another_ tv program talking about her, when she felt a light breeze in the room.

Garchomp immediately shot up, a low growling noise rolling from her throat, and Cynthia was quick to pat her into relaxion...without much success, however.

When she recognized the silhouette in the room to be Cyrus, the woman promptly recalled her Pokémon in her Pokeball, right as the dragon was leaping towards the intruder.

"Well, it's good to see you seemingly are keeping your word." was Cyrus' greeting, dusting off his jacket as he looked at the Pokeball containing Garchomp.

Cynthia didn't say or do anything, holding with all herself onto her Ego, hoping it would calm down both her Id who wanted to tackle Cyrus down, pushing herself onto him so that he could relieve her of that painful yet pleasuring need, and her Super-Ego, who wanted to punish him for having hurt her beloved ones through feeding-denial and a very, very long rant. And maybe a slap or two.

"Jupiter kept an eye on things for me," continued the vampire, slowly making his way towards the blonde: "it's just a matter of time before things die out. They always do."  
"People will want answers." hissed Cynthia: " _Especially_ those who care."

Cyrus started toying with her hair, causing her to shiver -and she didn't know if in repugnance or anticipation: "We can think on a cover-up later. It's been so long since I tasted your blood...the difference with the others is so blatant, now that I had to _momentarily_ go back to them."

"I-I still don't know what's so special about my blood," murmured Cynthia, her voice weakening as she could feel the man's breath on her neck.

"Nor do I." was his reply as he sank his fangs into her.

She tried very hard to resist the bite, she did. She tried being repulsed, or at least indifferent. But truth was, _may Arceus forgive her_ , that she had missed the feeling _so much_ , she practically melted into Cyrus' arms. Even he was almost surprised not only at her loss of resistance, but at her needy compliance, even though he already knew from Jupiter that it was only natural. And he also found that he had missed the taste of her blood so much, he never wanted to take any other again, and instictively deepened the bite.

He briefly wondered if it was _him_ the one getting addicted, instead of the other way around.

With the sudden intensity of the bite Cynthia stepped back, and almost fell back on the sofa was it not for Cyrus who held firmly onto her, lowering her body on the cushions more slowly as to not hurt her neck.

The woman found that it was the first time that the "feeding" occured in a laying down position, and for some reason her body felt thrilled by it. Without thinking, she threw her arms around him to push him further onto her. She at least tried to stifle her moans by biting her lips, but Cyrus could still hear her, and the whole thing was making him both uneasy and almost excited at the same time. He didn't even manage to get angry at himself for feeling for, enjoying such things, enthralled in the bite as he was.

The only mental note he managed to take was to pin down again Cynthia to some surface the next times -be it the sofa, bed, table, wall or whatever- since she seemed to enjoy that more, as he felt said enjoyment rippling from her blood.

The whole thing lasted a bit more than usual, and when the two separated, panting, Cynthia was already in a drowsy state from the blood loss. She instictively nuzzled against his chest, closing her eyes as she seeked warmth, and Cyrus backed away at the touch.

Her look was one of puzzlement but also disappointment, as she looked at the vampire retreating and muttering -again- to himself. His face was almost confused, for as much as she could pick up in the darkness, lit only by the tv screen.

"I'll see you soon." he dryly stated, and blended away in the shadows.

* * *

"I thought you didn't want to come visit me."  
"Don't take it wrong! It's just a check-up on Master Cyrus' behalf!"

Cynthia chuckled at the stubborness of Mars. She could be such a tsundere, it made her actually endearing once you got used it.  
"I'm sure it is, he must be very concerned considering he was here just last night~"  
...still, the temptation to mock her was often too great to pass up.

Their discussion was interrupted by Saturn's screeches from the kitchen.

"W-what happened, Sa…?" Cynthia rushed to the kitchen and wasn't even able to fully finish the question, that upon seeing a very startled Saturn, with popcorn on his hair -well, _everywhere_ , to be exact- she bursted out laughing.

"D-d-don't deride me, human! This machine is obsolete, it's its fault…!" snapped the blue-haired young man, trying to stop with his hands the flow of popcorn flying off from Cynthia's popcorn maker.

Mars put her hands on her hips, scowling: "Geez, Satty, why didn't you just use the microwave?"  
"Because this woman here doesn't have any microwavable popcorn!" protested Saturn, desperately unplugging the machine, but the kernels still popping from the leftover heat.

Cynthia wiped away a little tear caused by the excessive laughs, and started helping out to clean up the mess. "It's ok, it's ok, you two can go pick the movies, I will take care of this." she said, smiling in an almost motherly way. She followed with her gaze the two laughing and quarreling as they headed for the living room, still smiling to herself. The woman was starting to consider the two as some sort of younger siblings, and she didn't mind that at all for the time being.

Things were actually going pretty well; a little over a month had gone by since her return, she had resumed her job as the Sinnoh Champion, and the concern from people was slowly fading away as she was perfectly in health and with nothing to worry about. She was hanging out with her friends again, and having fun.

Sure, all of this made some people wonder if she hadn't staged up everything - _for a vacation? For attention-whoring? Who knows?_ \- and gossip on her was still abundant, but as much as that irritated her it was the price to pay for being a public figure.

In the end, she didn't care about what others said and didn't even bother to make a fuss over a reply; she knew the ones who truly loved her were going to stick by her side and believe her no matter what, and that was what mattered.

She plopped on the sofa, careful not to sit in-between the young adults so that Mars could have some snuggling time with Saturn, and handed to each of them a bag of freshly made popcorn. "So, what are we watching?" inquired the older woman, grabbing the tv remote.

Mars pouted, crossing her arms: "I wanted to see an actual movie, but the nerd here wants to see anime!"  
Saturn made an offended face: "Well, it's just that of course there's no signal in Distortion World, I'm stuck to see the same DVDs over and over! I want new episodes!"

Cynthia sighed, getting up to rummage through her own DVDs: "Well, how about a mix then? An anime movie? I should still have some Studio Ghibli movies from when I was younger…"

The two nodded, immediately getting up as well to snoop through the various movies.  
Cynthia smiled; it was going to be an enjoyable night.

She briefly wondered if she could spend some casual quality time with Cyrus, too.

* * *

Despite how many times she may have considered it, it never really occurred to her that she would get out in the streets with a _vampire_.

Cynthia had insisted much to spend some "normal" time together, and now she was clueless on what to do. She wondered if she really wanted this, and arrived to the conclusion that she probably needed a reason to justify why she craved so much the vampire's bites. She was a woman of emotion, and if she had to see Cyrus almost everyday - _the need was becoming insatiable_ \- and have such intimate contact with him, they should have at least some sort of friendly relationship.

And then she had to admit, he was mainly irritating and probably nuts, but he was also so mature, clever, and interesting…. _NO, such thoughts shouldn't cross her mind_. Or maybe yes. She did have to like something in him if she was to befriend him, right? Oh, the struggle.

Since sunlight seemed to hurt Cyrus, the two ended up going out in the evening. And since Cynthia didn't really know what to do, she went for the first thing that popped in her mind.

"Ice-cream."

Cyrus flatly said the word, as he observed Cynthia scanning over the various flavors the ice-cream shop had.

"You insisted so much on me going out with you, for _ice-cream_."

"It's just the beginning, you dork. Have some patience and pick one of your own." she replied, not detaching her gaze from the colorful array before her. Maybe she should go with mango this time, fruit was healthier and mango had a sweet taste she enjoyed. Or maybe she should screw health and just go with that good-looking Nutella-filled one over there….but, on the other side, vanilla and strawberry was a timeless classic. Maybe she could try and take all four...

"I think I'll pass," replied the vampire sighing, and impatiently started to tap his foot: "but if we really have to do this, you could at least speed up."  
Cynthia just shot him an annoyed glance: "It's a serious matter!"  
Cyrus rolled his eyes, trying to keep his voice low yet intimidating enough: "Serious? Just pick what you want already, this is becoming _ridiculous_."

"If you're in such a hurry, why don't you make yourself useful and help me choose?" was the woman's reply as she lightly pushed him towards the ice-cream filled display cabinet.

Ok, he had to reiterate; this was becoming _beyond_ ridiculous.

It had been years since the last time he dared walking among humans, he never liked it even when he was one of them. And now, the first thing he was doing after all that time was...picking an ice-cream flavor?

Begrudgingly, he pointed at the first two flavors he noticed, and a few minutes later Cynthia finally had a cone in her hands, happily strolling in the streets.

"Chocolate and pistachio..? You're _so_ old fashioned." giggled the woman, playfully elbowing his arm. She was met with Cyrus' trademark impassivity, so she decided to gently grab his arm instead, locking it with hers. This did get a reaction out of him, as he gave her a quick glance and tried backing away, but her grip was firm.

"Does this make you uncomfortable?" she asked lowering her voice, slowly caressing his arm instead of gripping onto it.  
"It's fine," was his reply, and he sharply inhaled, still staring ahead as they kept on walking: "It's just not something I'm used to. As a whole."  
"We can go somewhere quiet, if you wish."

Cyrus merely nodded, and Cynthia couldn't help but notice that, despite keeping his stoic facade for the most time, occasionally his eyes would dart back and forth as if he was nervous. She instictively held him closer.

The quiet place ended up being a secluded spot in a park. Cynthia briefly commented on how it was her go-to place when she wanted to be outside, but alone, to seek some tranquility.  
The two sat on a bench, Cynthia's cone long gone, and just stayed silent for a while.

The Champion suddenly sighed, and reclined her head back against the bench, staring up at the sky that was by now glittering with stars.  
Cyrus gave her a glance as he sensed her movement, and followed her gaze. His face contorted a bit, but he too stared at the starry sky.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? And now we're in spring, the sky's not even at its best. You should see it during win-"

"I know."

Cynthia broke her gaze to the sky to look at Cyrus, not expecting to be interrupted, but he didn't spare her even a glance, immersed in the sea of stars above.

"It's been so long."

It was then that the woman remembered the multiple astronomy books in Cyrus' library, which she glossed over just because she was interested in the various myths behind the constellations (and admittedly, as her batty friends said, for the pretty photos). It was fascinating, but not enough to really catch her interest. Probably, for Cyrus it was one of the topics of main interest, perhaps even as much as mythology was to her. The thought made her pose her hand atop Cyrus'.

"You haven't stargazed ever since your... _confinement_ , did you?"  
"I haven't in a long time. Even since before that. It was a... _childish pastime_."  
"I don't think it's childish at all! Some people even do it as a profession, I don't see why you couldn't be able to enjoy that."

Cyrus stayed silent, and Cynthia pressed on: "Listen, I don't know what happened to you as a human, or what others told you, but you should always listen only to yourself when it comes to _you_. When I'm afraid I shouldn't be doing something, I ask myself two questions: is it something that makes me happy? It is something that may hurt anything or anyone, in any way? If the answers are respectively yes and no, then there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't do it."

This time, Cyrus looked down to face her. She couldn't read his non-existant expression, as usual, but she felt like what she said caught his interest. He mumbled something to himself -of which she only caught "maybe that's why", "failure", "not understand" and "sacrifices"-, and Cynthia decided to lean in and rest her head on his shoulder.  
He was lightly startled by that, but let her lean on him.

"So," started Cynthia, pointing at the stars above: "mind telling me some about the constellations visible right now? Because I can only recognize that as Ursaring, and the Teddiursa there!"  
"Those would be the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Cynthia."  
"But Ursaring and Teddiursa it's easier to remember."  
"If you want me to tell you about constellations, we're going to use their proper names."  
"Whatever, _professor_."

Cyrus ignored her last remark, and scanned the sky: "It is a constellation mostly made of faint stars, with no one brighter than third magnitude, but if you look that way you can make out Crater. Since its stars aren't impressive, they have no specific names and merely go by Alpha Crateris, Beta Crateris, and so on. The Alpha is referred to also as Alkes, though."

He took a quick glance at Cynthia, and decided to not go into further details which she probably wouldn't understand: "Not too far you can see also the constellation known as Hydra, probably better for its greater brilliance, which-" "Wait, wait!" interrupted Cynthia: "Crater and Hydra? Corvus must be nearby too then, right?"

The vampire was taken aback, not expecting her to know about it.  
"Yes, that would be correct. April is not the best time to observe it, however."

"I knew it! I can't recognize the constellations by myself in the sky, but I remember from the myth they're supposed to be close." she smiled, her eyes lost in the stars: "According to the myth, the god Solgaleo needed water to perform a ritual, and asked a Murkrow to fetch him some with a cup. The Murkrow got distracted though, and arrived with several days of delay, bringing with himself also a Dragonair to justify him. Solgaleo saw through the lies, and sent all of them in the sky: the Murkrow is Corvus, the cup Crater, and the Dragonair Hydra.  
The myth also says Solgaleo casted a curse on the Murkrow's kin, scorching its feathers and making the bird eternally thirsty and unable to do anything about it. This, according to the myth, is how Murkrows came to have black feathers and why they have such raspy voices.  
The Crater constellation is actually part of the Vermillion Bird of the South in another country...it's fascinating how the stars above are always the same, yet different people can see different things and give them different stories."

Finished her little tale, she looked at Cyrus, eyes widening: "I'm so sorry! I interrupted you and got carried away…!"  
"It's alright. It was quite entertaining."

She smiled at him: "Will you tell me more about Hydra, then?"

He was almost tempted to curl his lips upwards as well: "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably one of the hardest chapters to write to date...I had no clue on how to decently write all the confusion, worry and consequences that Cynthia's return would have brought, so I kinda just breezed over it, trying not to get too lenghty-write an unbeliavable mess. Also, I was afraid things with Cyrus were getting too mushy (or -coughs- "steamy")...but the mythology/astrology part was fun to write about, especially mixing it up with the Pokeworld! Anyways, this was the last old chapter I wrote during my break that I finally decided to post, I have no clue when I'll be able to write more but hopefully soon! Thanks a lot to anyone reading!


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm betting you guys that it was a sort of government experiment."

Cynthia's eyes didn't even left the day's duties, scanning for anything she may have missed, but her voice still held exasperation and slight annoyance.  
"...Flint, please, it's been two months since I returned, nothing happened, I'm fine, can't you just let it go? I'd like to return to my normal life."

"No no, hear me out!" continued the fire specialist, energetically putting his hands on the table to lean on it: "They experimented with your brain, maybe some whacky stuff like long-distance mind control, so that they can keep an eye on you and use you as their pawn in politics! Next thing we know, you'll be ruling Sinnoh with an iron fist….or maybe you'll just turn into a Kadabra. Who knows?"

"Whoah, you serious man?!" chimed in Aaron, gaping at the colleague.

Cynthia stifled a groan, rolling her eyes, and finally put her papers down to throw a killer look at Flint. Ever since the man had read Kanto's articles about a kid having turned into a Kadabra and finding out about the government being manipulated by Team Rocket to committ all sorts of crimes and scientific experiments, he wouldn't stop pestering her with his "theories".

She made a mental note to never talk about international affairs with him ever again.  
Or maybe to not even talk to him _at all_ , if he kept at it.

Luckily, Bertha walked in with her delicious home-made cookies, and immediately Aaron and Flint raced to claim dibs.

"Cynthia, dear," Bertha's voice called, and the Champion turned to her with a smile.  
"Today's been pretty slow, and there's nothing left to do, why don't you go home a bit early?"

The blonde woman glanced around the room, as if to make sure everything was alright: "...You sure?"  
"Very sure," smiled the older lady: "plus, it's only 40 minutes to closing time, so it's not a big deal darling."  
"Don't worry, Cynthia, if an unscheduled challenger comes by we'll make sure they won't manage to get to your room." added Lucian, still immersed in a novel.

Cynthia nodded, mostly to herself: "Well then...if you're so sure, I'll be on my way. See you tomorrow!"

If there was a thing the Sinnoh Champion didn't do often, was leaving work early; if anything, as duty-driven as she was, she left later than others. Her heels clacked awkwardly in the still semi-populated hallways, and she left a last glance at the League building before grabbing Garchomp's Pokeball.

...those four were still worrying too much. She wondered when things would completely go back to normalcy. But the young woman didn't have time to ponder on it, that she heard someone calling her name in the distance.

Squinting her eyes, she could make out a formally-dressed man with steel-blue hair.

_Oh._

"Steven," she greeted him with a smile, half surprised, half amused, but overall very happy, as he finally reached her and rested his hands on his knees, still panting from the run.

"I...phew...thought you wouldn't be done for at least half an hour…!" started Steven between ragged breaths.

"Oh, and why would Hoenn's Champion grace Sinnoh, and specifically _me_ , with his presence~?" playfully inquired Cynthia, crossing her arms and cocking her head in amusement.

"Ah, please, now you're starting to mock me like Wallace does!" remarked the man equally playfully.  
"Dear Arceus, how could _dare I_ plagiarize that most glorious Sootopolitan…!"

The two looked at each other for a second, and burst out laughing.

"But, in all seriousness Steven, why are you here? Why looking for me? It's not like Hoenn is just around the corner..."

Steven looked at her with fond eyes.

"Well, I was hoping to walk you home, have a nice chat while we were at it."

Cynthia sighed. She had hoped he'd stop worrying about her...she almost felt guilt coming back with a vengeance.

"...and then, last time I visited Sinnoh I was in quite a hurry, I was hoping you'd give me a tour~?"

_Almost._

"And what about your job as Champion, Steven?"  
"Nah, left Wallace in temporary charge as usual, no worries!"  
" _As usual_."

Cynthia dearly cared for Steven and liked him, sure, he was one of her best friends - _and maybe your special someone_ , Mars seemed to giggle in her head- but Arceus knew how much it annoyed her how absolutely carefree the guy could be.

Maybe it was her fault to think so, as duty-immersed as she had always been - _why, you have every right, you had to mature up so prematurely, while he always had daddy to back him up_ , seethed Jupiter this time, but she was quick to shush her into oblivion. She loved her friend and respected him. The bad gossip about him was none of her concern. And she definetely wasn't jealous.

She looked back up at Steven with an amused smile: "You know, I really hope Wallace ends up painting the Champion Room blue again like that time, maybe that'll make you learn."

The young man's face was suddenly flooded with embarassment, and Cynthia laughed lightly, giving him a playful pat on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be happy to show you around! Not to brag, but I'm quite sure to be one of the people who knows Sinnoh _very_ well." finally nodded Cynthia, sincerely smiling at him: "Say, where have you booked an hotel room? Or did you buy a private villa for as long as you'll stay here? It would be my pleasure to fly you there."

"Well," started Steven, suddenly a bit nervous: "I do admit this visit of mine has been quite in haste, I haven't... _thoroughly planned my stay_." He was looking down in embarassment as he said so, slightly scratching the back of his head, and shyly met her gaze again only as he went silent, smiling in that adorable yet charming way that sent Butterfrees wild in Cynthia's stomach.

She reassuringly put a hand on his shoulder, smiling while blurting out of insticting an offer she didn't really think about: "Forget about finding a hotel, you can stay at my home for tonight, the sun is already setting. We'll think of the place most suitable to you tomorrow. And then, I'd love to have you around some."

Steven seemingly found some confidence back, as he grinned at her, holding her hand: "Thanks Cynthia, I'd love that."

But, as it turned out, Cynthia definitely didn't think about what she had just offered.

After a stop with Steven at a restaurant for dinner and a short stroll, the Champion of Sinnoh barely had time to open the door that she could hear the voice of a certain irked vampire: "It was about time Cynthia, where were you gone? Jupiter told me you were going off work earlier, and you should have expected I'd be here today, seeing yesterday I didn't-"

"Sorry if I have a life," hastily cut him off Cynthia: "and tell Jupiter to stop being a stalker, for Arceus' sake!"

"Is everything ok, Cyn? If you were expecting someone else already, I can just go find a hotel..." chimed in Steven, torn between stepping back and trying to peek inside Cynthia's house.

Cynthia opened the entrance door as wide as possible, so that Cyrus and Steven could look at each other: "No, no, it's everything alright Steven, Cyrus was _just about to go_."

The two men stared at each other, both feeling a tinge of jealousy at each other's presence; but only one of them cared enough to acknowledge the feeling and admit it.

It was Steven the first to move, stepping towards the other man while holding out his hand: "I'm Steven Stone, a close friend of Cynthia. Pleased to meet you."  
Cyrus narrowed his eyes at him, but completely ignored the younger man and turned to Cynthia instead: "You'll hear of me later. But know I am not pleased by this, Cynthia."  
"Oh well, too bad, because it's my house and I decide who comes in and who doesn't, you didn't have the right to come in without telling me to begin with." remarked her, harshly posing her hands on her hips.

Cyrus was about to get out, and lingered to the young woman's side just a moment enough to faintly whisper: "Then lock better your windows, it's as if you always leave them open for me."

Cynthia slightly blushed, feeling her blood rushing because of his presence - _dearArceushe'ssonearmyneck, justhavehimbitemealready_ -, but she steeled herself, dryly bidding him a good night.

With a sigh and trying to compose herself, the young woman closed the door. Maybe, she didn't have to be so harsh; afterall, Cyrus was right, he had freedom to come and go just because she allowed him so. Heck, she felt awful about it, but many times it was even Cynthia herself to demand him to visit more, her own thirst for his bites becoming unbearable. But no, she mentally scolded herself, that doesn't mean he can be so arrogant about the matter, as if he owned the place. Yes, she was right to be that clear with him. ...Maybe.

The Champion snapped back to reality, realizing her colleague and friend was awkwardly looking at her, unsure on what to say or do. She knew Steven would have probably wanted to ask about Cyrus, but he was too polite to do so.

Cynthia warmly smiled at him: "He was just a close friend, he has a bit of a habit to come home whenever he wants. I really shouldn't have given him my keys...guess I was kind of paranoid back then about my safety that I didn't really thought that thoroughly, ahah..." she clasped her hands together, wondering if the quickly-made excuse was believable enough.

She quickly motioned to the living room: "But nevermind that! He's just a grumpy, strange friend, I'm sorry for his lack of manners. Please do come in, and make yourself at home!"

Steven simply nodded with a small smile, and followed Cynthia's gesture, the layout of her home familiar to him by now. The woman let out Garchomp from her Pokeball, the sand dragon stretching as soon as she was out and then casting a puzzled gaze on Steven.

"He'll stay for the night," explained Cynthia: "but even if you know him well, no rough play ok? I'd like this to be relaxing for Steven."

Garchomp groaned in response, and affectionately butted her head against Steven's shoulder, who laughed but still massaged the sore spot from the playful bump.

The Hoenn's Champion followed Cynthia's example, and Metagross was let out of his confinement as well, joining Garchomp on the backyard to do some friendly wrestling as usual.

Cynthia peeked at them from the sliding glass door, smiling as Metagross lifted Garchomp with his psychic powers and tickled her belly.

"Looks like they're having fun," hummed Steven, suddenly at her side. Cynthia was used to it and didn't even flinch, just nodding with a hum of her own.

"One of these days we should have a friendly match." suddenly added the blonde shooting a side glance and a grin at him: "I hope you haven't been out of practice with the whole 'I'll-leave-for-vacation-since-my-bffl-covers-me' thing, or I'll kick your ass."

Steven grinned back at her: "Such mean words from such a fine lady, but don't expect any chivalry from me then!"

The two shared a laugh, and Cynthia found herself resting her head on Steven's shoulder. The man started scratching his head, pretending not to notice, while she smiled and looked away. It was kinda cute how he acted like a schoolboy with a crush when they happened to get close. Did that mean he really had feelings for her..?

She mentally went back to her talks with Mars, and how she kept insisting they should start dating. Cynthia blushed at the thought, and pushed it away.

She couldn't afford the luxury of romance, not with her questionable relationship with a vampire. Until she sorted out things with Cyrus, she couldn't do that to Steven.

It would feel dirty, like cheating; there wasn't anything between her and Cyrus, but the bites still felt as something very intimate, something she wouldn't want to share with the vampire if she was already dating someone.

Cynthia slightly shook her head and mentally scolded herself; she was going ahead of things, overthinking as usual, and it would only harm her -no, _them_ \- now. Steven was just a close friend, and all she had to do was pushing silly, complicated thoughts aside, and just enjoy the time with him.

"Up for some ice-cream before going to sleep?" inquired the blonde with a smile.

"Only if you've got some Rocky Road," replied Steven with a smile even brighter.

* * *

Steven sighed at the phone, unable to sleep. He couldn't help it, every time he followed Wallace's relationship advices, he felt somehow bad about it. He loved his best friend, but the way to go with people was something they were so different about, they could never understand each other. Steven tried to think it as a way to 'complete each other' like every cheesy friendship says, but truth was sometimes he even resented Wallace for how he was with people.

He sent another message Wallace's way.

_Steven:_ _idk, I still feel bad about it somehow_

The reply was instant.

_Wallace:_ _why?_

_Steven:_ _well, it was like you said, as soon as I mentioned I forgot to find a place for the night she immediately offered her home_

_Wallace:_ _...and?_

_Steven:_ _and I still feel like I pushed myself on her, idk. I shouldn't be here, and it's not believable to just set off and "forget" to book a room or smth_

_Wallace:_ _my air-headed friend, it's not that unbelievable since the only thing you can focus on is OMG ROcKS_

_Steven:_ _that's not true! it's just that they are fascinating, ok?_

_ Steven _ _: and pretty_

_ Steven _ _: and interesting_

_ Wallace _ _: ok, stop it. See what I meant?_

_ Wallace _ _: in any case, she was the one to offer her home, right? You didn't suggest it or anything yeah?_

_ Steven _ _: well, yes_

_ Steven _ _: she even said I can stay as long as I wish_

_ Wallace _ _: then, I was right again! Why worry so much?_

_ Steven _ _: idk, it's not how I usually act_

_ Wallace _ _: and that's the reason why you're still single, and I have a heap of fangirls~_

_ Steven _ _: you know I can screenshot this and send it to Winona, right?_

_ Wallace _ _: ...you're right, I don't like this new Steven_

_ Wallace _ _: but still, good luck with Cynthia! You're Hoenn's dreamboat, I don't see why your charm wouldn't work on Sinnoh ladies as well~_

_ Steven _ _: because Cynthia is not one to fall just for looks?_

_ Wallace _ _: when you're this glorious, looks are more than enough_

_ Steven _ _: *facepalms_

_ Steven _ _: ok, you better go gloriously to sleep_

_ Wallace _ _: you don't appreciate real beauty and charm_

_ Wallace _ _: but goodnight then, I guess you need rest considering the interesting day you have ahead of you~_

_Steven: sTOP THAT_

_ Wallace _ _: I'm only cheering for you!_

_ Steven _ _: yeah, g'night Wall_

_ Wallace _ _: goodnight...I bet Cynthia's bed is very comfy ;)_

Steven groaned and almost threw his phone on the nightstand. Why did Wallace have to be always so inappropriate?! Trying to think of something else to drift to sleep, he suddenly noticed something.

He could hear strange sounds from Cynthia's room.

* * *

Cynthia almost growled, as if failing to contain the growing anger she had towards him -and herself-.

"It's all your fault," whispered Cyrus as his fangs inched towards her neck: "I wasn't the one to ask for this so frequently, and now you've got me in a vicious habit."

"Why would you do this? I've told you to stay out tonight!" hissed Cynthia, trying to keep her voice low.

"Simply because, I am hungry. And..." he trailed off, looking at the wall dividing Cynthia's room from the guestroom, but didn't add anything else. The young woman was about to ask him what was he going to say, but the vampire trailed his tongue on the milky skin of her neck, and she stifled a moan.

"Don't," whispered him again, as he held her hands against the bed so that she couldn't cover her mouth or resist him: "let him hear, let him hear that you're mine and how you beg me,"

He kept nibbling and licking at those he by now knew were her weak spots, enjoying her struggle and patiently waiting for her to lose it and just plead to be bitten.

Cynthia was oversensitive by now, and everything Cyrus did to her felt overwhelming; but there was something else that kept her mouth shut, a certain darkness in his eyes. He had never been this possessive of her, and she was starting to be scared.

Was he jealous of Steven? _Why?_

"You're being childish now," she managed to say, not without a gasp: "let Steven out of this, he's just a friend...!"  
"This is not about that _imbecile_ " dryly replied Cyrus.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes at that, and found the strength to roll over and top him, leaving the vampire momentarily frozen by surprise.

"Stop lying to me, you never acted like this and oh, _coincidentally_ he shows up and you go all aggressive-possessive! What's wrong with you?!" trying to keep her voice low was taking all her self-control, so she decided to avoid names just in case.

Cyrus felt something, emotions that shouldn't exist and which he tried so hard to wipe away, and he almost lost control: "You kicked me out for that idiot! One second you cuddle up to me and ask to see me more often, the other you harshly tell me to essentially _fuck off_ , what do you even want from me?"

"That's not an excuse for you to be so aggressive!" she managed to blurt out, but in a matter of seconds the weight of his words sunk in, and she literally fell under them, lying at his side and feeling horrible about herself.

He was right. Were she in Cyrus' shoes, she would definitely have felt angry and hurt as well. Sure, she wasn't as aggressive as he showed to be -and it scared her, he had always been eerily calm-, but the way Cyrus put it definitely made it sound like she was playing around with him. It was awful, the feeling of having unintentionally hurt someone you cared for.

Wait, when did she start _caring_ for him?

"I'm sorry," she said in a soft whisper, knowing well how cliché and pathetic she was sounding, but hoping it would still somehow convey how she felt: "I'm so sorry, you're right. I shouldn't have talked you that way, you had to go, but I told you so in the wrong way. It's just-" she paused, looking at the empty air: "you're part of my life and you're not at the same time. It's like I have a double life, one with my work, my friends and family, and then another with vampires and friendly talking bats. And I don't know, I don't know how to harmonize things together, it's just too surreal and I don't want others to know you exist- no, not you, that a _vampire_ exists."

Cyrus blankly stared at the ceiling, and suddenly sighed, covering his face with an arm. Of course, she didn't want others to know. Just like the first time he met her, the monstrous nature of his current being hit him, but this time the force was tenfold.

He couldn't be, could never be, part of her world. And he thought it was alright, because he hated that sinful world and he had wanted, still wanted, to leave it forever and create one made of perfection; but he didn't feel alright, he felt rejected, he felt _different_ , and remembered, remembered how people had never wanted anything to do with him even before he became a monster.

He had always been different to others, no matter if human, god or vampire, and it _hurt_.

_It shouldn't hurt though, wouldn't it be better not to hurt?_ And again, in a mere matter of seconds he had remembered his whole life of hurt and reject, but also his decision to never be hurt again; yes, he had proof once again that feelings were more harm than good.

Cyrus was going to tell her how it would have been better to just never see each other again, or at least have their visits strictly for just feeding, but Cynthia was worried by his long silence, by the way he hid his face, and suddenly hugged him.

"I don't care what you are," she started, still afraid to look at him though: "but I do care about you. This world isn't ready to know you for what you are, but I am. The reason I don't want others to know of you is because, were they to know you're a vampire, they would hurt you, they wouldn't understand. But we'll make this work, I promise."

And then, looking up at him: "You're important to me now."

Cyrus was breathless, and for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to think. He was confused, now staring back at her, but his eyes were as blank as his mind.

"Stop this," he muttered, closing his eyes and tangling a hand in his hair: "stop saying such things only to fool with me later,"

"I would never," she said reassuringly, tying her hands between his to slowly let him go of his own hair, and letting her hands caress them instead.  
"But you did, today." the reply was so low he almost wasn't heard.  
"I would never _intentionally_ ; I know I've been wrong, and I'm sorry for it"

Cyrus looked at her again and she decided it was time to drop the sad mood, playfully saying: "And to think as soon as you were gone I told Steven you are a close friend, the only one with my house keys..!"

"You did?"  
"I did."  
"Only to have a non-vampire excuse on why I was here"  
"It's the truth, though!"

The vampire closed his eyes. _A close friend_. Nobody had ever referred to him as such, not even Saturn, Mars and Jupiter.

Without a word, he softly caressed her neck, as if to wipe away the small bites he gave her earlier, and kissed its skin, finally biting into her.  
A surprised moan escaped her lips, and as soon as her blood trickled inside him he felt her sincerity with it.

That blood warmed him more than anything had in his life.

When he was done shortly after, Cynthia was already sleepy, fighting to keep her eyes open. "Will you forgive me?" she muttered, her sleepy voice sounding much softer than usual, almost pleading.

"I suppose I could consider that," replied Cyrus with a slight smirk on his lips, and he shifted in the bed into a more comfortable position. Cynthia still caught notice of that, and playfully shoved him away.

"I don't let _friends_ in my bed, sorry~"

Cyrus seemed to miss her innuendo and just nodded, starting to pull himself up.

" _But_ ," she added, stifling a yawn: "you can stay until I fall asleep, if you wish."

He laid by her side for what felt like an eternity, and only once Cynthia was deep into sleep did he caress her hair and cheek.  
The vampire stared at the sleeping woman for another while, hand still cupping her cheek with what others would call fondness, before disappearing into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell I'm not used to romance at all? I've got zero experience with it and it's been a looong while since I've read or watched anything primarily romantic (my favorite genre is horror), so anything I try to write about it turns out awkward and cheesy...I think I may be better at regular angst, rather than petty teens-in-love level angst xD (this is also the reason why this was 90% completed since a while and I never posted it-it was never good enough to be finalized, still isn't, but I'm sick of trying to reach perfection for a silly fanfic, I draw for a living, not write xD)
> 
> But yeah, I'm finally bringing in more of Steven to the story! Even tho I'm totally bias, this is supposed to become a love triangle afterall! *evil laugh*
> 
> Thanks to anyone reading! Your support is what keeps me trying to write faster and not end up with only one-two chapters done within an year, so thank you very much! I hope to become better so that I can give you an even more worthwhile read!


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